Instructional Archive: Blue Print to Starting a Team

As part of an ongoing series, Inside Lacrosse is scouring its archives to bring you years worth of instructional tips that you may have missed. Below, Nathaniel Badder gives a rough four-week guide to successfully starting your own lacrosse team. This article was an additional segment to the article Start From Scratch both first appearing in the November 2006 issue of the Magazine.

As a general rule, it makes sense to introduce (and refine) individual skills before advancing to more complicated team concepts. After all, it won’t matter how unstoppable your newest EMO play is if your players can’t throw and catch. Below is a basic timeline that has proved useful in teaching youngsters the basics of lacrosse.

Week 1 – Individual skills

2. Defense – Start in “breakdown position” (like a football linebacker) with your stick anchored at your hip and placed on the bottom hand of the offensive player; shuffle feet and prevent the offensive player from getting into good shooting spots.

Week 2 – Unsettled situations

A. Transition offense and defense (2-on-1, 3-on-2, …6-on-5)

1. Offense – Stay wide; always be a threat to score (with the ball and without); make a defender commit to playing you; keep your feet moving; and find the open man.
2. Defense – Stay tight; play from the inside out (give up outside shots, not inside layups); stop the ballcarrier (he’s always the most dangerous player on the field); never turn your back to the ball; keep your stick up and in passing lanes.

B. Rides and clears

Week 3 – Settled situations

A. Team offense and defense (2-on-2, 3-on-3,… 6-on-6)

1. Offensive principles – Clear space for teammates; dodge at full speed and draw a slide; find the 2-on-1 and pass to the open man.

2. Defensive principles – Us vs. them (not me vs. him); communicate responsibilities and slides; be ready to help stop the ballcarrier and leave the least-dangerous offensive player open if necessary.

B. Crease play

1. Offense – Set up opposite the ball; work together (pick ’n roll, pick ’n pop, etc.); time your cuts so that the ballcarrier is ready to feed.

2. Defense – Always stay between your man and the ball; keep your head on a swivel so you can see your man and the ball; shadow your offensive player’s cuts; check sticks when the feed is made.